Global Rights is an international human rights advocacy organization headquartered in Washington D.C. The Global Rights Records span the dates 1980-2006 and consist of correspondence, administrative, research and project files, and printed material related to the work of Global Rights (known before 2003 as the International Human Rights Law Group - IHRLG), a human rights advocacy organization based in Washington D.C. Material in this collection documents human rights abuses in various contexts while also providing insight into the complex administrative issues facing nongovernmental organizations working to curb those violations. The collection is divided into series for Administrative Files, Country Files, Printed Material, and Project Files. The Administrative Files Series contains records of meetings of the board of directors of Global Rights, executive correspondence, and training material for human rights advocates. Material in the Country Files Series documents Global Right's activities in specific countries, generally concentrated in Africa, East Asia, and Latin America. Files on human rights and social conditions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zaire are among the most extensive in the series but other countries are also represented. The Printed Material Series chiefly consists of articles and speeches by IHRLG/Global Rights staff, and reports by the IHRLG on human rights in many countries. Various issue-based advocacy efforts chronicled in the Project Files Series complete the collection. Activities documented in this series include increasing legal infrastructure in Cambodia through the Cambodian Defenders Project; advocating for women's rights (economic and sexual) and targeting sexual slavery and human trafficking; and targeting racial discrimination in the U.S. and abroad. An extensive set of project files relates to advocacy for the ratification of human rights treaties, and documents several international meetings such as UN's Meeting of the States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Meeting of the States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1980).

The Global Rights Records span the dates 1980-2006 and consist of correspondence, administrative, research and project files, and printed material related to the work of Global Rights (known before 2003 as the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG)), a human rights advocacy organization based in Washington D.C. Material in this collection documents human rights abuses in various contexts while also providing insight into the complex administrative issues facing nongovernmental organizations working to curb those violations. The collection is divided into series for Administrative Files, Country Files, Printed Material, and Project Files. The Aministrative Files Series contains records of meetings of the board of directors of Global Rights, executive correspondence, and training material for human rights advocates. Material in the Country Files Series documents the group's activities in specific countries, generally concentrated in Africa, East Asia, and Latin America. Files on Afghanistan, Bosnia and Hercegovina, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Zaire are among the most extensive in the collection. The Printed Material Series chiefly consists of articles and speeches by IHRLG/Global Rights staff and reports by the IHRLG on human rights in many countries. Various issue-based advocacy efforts chronicled in the Project Files Series complete the collection. Activities documented in this series include increasing legal infrastructure in Cambodia through the Cambodian Defenders Project; advocating for women's rights (economic and sexual) and targeting sexual slavery and human trafficking; and targeting racial discrimination in the U.S. and abroad. An extensive set of project files relates to advocacy for the ratification of human rights treaties, and documents several international meetings such as UN's Meeting of the States Parties to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Meeting of the States Parties to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1980).

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Divided into subseries for Board Records, Correspondence, and Personnel Training. The Board Records Subseries consists primarily of minutes and materials from Executive Board meetings of the International Human Rights Law Group (IHRLG) and Global Rights, with the bulk of these dated between 1995 and 1998. Also included in this subseries are documents from strategic planning meetings, a file of financial audit information and minutes from general staff meetings dated 1996 and from 2000-2001. One newspaper clipping has been removed from this subseries to Oversize Material. The Correspondence Subseries houses internal board communications dated between 1995 and 1998, chronological files of correspondence for Executive Director Gay McDougall and her assistant from 1996-1997, and internal staff memos from 1996. An additional folder of correspondence related to international human rights law is also included. Finally, a subseries of files on Personnel Training consists of staff orientiation and training manuals meant for new IHRLG/Global Rights staff, particularly those in Cambodia, as well as manuals written by IHRLG-affiliated lawyers for the larger human rights community. In addition, this subseries includes reports and materials from staff retreats. While the material in the Administrative Files Series generally chronicles the coordination of the IHRLG/Global Rights' activities around the world, files also document the internal dynamics of the organization. In particular, responses to a sense among some within the organization that the IHRLG had lost sight of its founding purpose, and the subsequent reevaluation of the group's mission are included. Subseries are organized alphabetically then chronologically.

Contains files related to IHRLG/Global Rights' activities in a variety of countries and regions, mostly in East Asia and Central Africa. Generally, files within each country grouping are organized with the following structure: Admin/Travel, Background Info, Emails/Memos, Media/Reports, and Notes. Files dealing with more specific issues of each country are often included in addition to these. The grouping for Sierra Leone is the largest in the series, covering the Lome Peace Accords, files on the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and
“conflict diamonds”
in addition to files consistent with the general series structure. Extensive files on Bosnia and Hercegovina may be found here as well. Researchers interested in Cambodia should also consult the Cambodian Defenders Project grouping in the Project Files Series. Files and groupings are generally organized as received; thus groupings on the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zaire report on the same geographic area at different political moments. A number of larger newspaper clippings have been removed to Oversize Material.

Comprised of the following subseries: Articles and Speeches, Human Rights Reports, and Other Relevant Material. The Articles and Speeches Subseries consists of articles and statements by IHRLG/Global Rights staff, speeches (generally by Gay McDougall), and press releases by IHRLG/Global Rights. Topics covered in this subseries include international human rights law and the ratification of international human rights treaties, combatting racial discrimination (particularly in South Africa), and women's rights. The Human Rights Reports Subseries, grouped into reports by the IHRLG and Other Organizations, consists of reports on the general situation of human rights in diverse countries and regions. In addition, some reports address the more specific human rights challenges endemic to particular countries as well as efforts to combat them. Subseries is organized alphabetically by country within each grouping; international reports appear at the end of each grouping. The Other Relevant Material Subseries houses additional print material, including documents related to human rights conferences, other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and briefs on U.S. district and Supreme Court cases. Organized alphabetically.

Contains files chronicling initiatives and projects of IHRLG/Global Rights, many of which are interrelated. Major projects include the Cambodian Defenders Project (and its closely related sibling project the Cambodian Court Training Project, housed together), various treaty ratification projects, and an initiative on "comfort women" and other forms of war-related sexual slavery. The Cambodian Defenders Project is a program to improve the the function of Cambodian courts through education and improved infrastructure. Among files in this series, it is unusual because it focuses exclusively on one country; while many projects are targeted in a single country, they often focus on an issue of concern in several national contexts. Treaties documented in the Treaty Ratification Projects grouping include the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and other treaties through the Clinton Administration. The largest grouping of files in this series relates to an initiative on "comfort women." It consists chiefly of drafts of a report issued to the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, which focused on the legal obligations of Japan as well as parties in conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Africa to victims of sex crimes during wartime. Projects related to racial and gender-based discrimination in the United States and abroad and the legal status of people detained by Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) after September 11, 2001 complete the series. A folder of various project proposals can be found at the end of the series; otherwise, series is organized alphabetically by project.

Consists of oversize newspaper clippings from other series. An article on the U.S. "School of the Americas" dated 1997 comes from the records of the board meeting of Dec. 5, 1997; additional clippings in Oversize Material come from various country files. These include clippings related to Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Morocco, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.